Technical Communication Today (5th Edition)

✍ Scribed by Richard Johnson-Sheehan

• Publisher: Pearson
• Year: 2014
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 658
• Edition: 5
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

ALERT: Before you purchase, check with your instructor or review your course syllabus to ensure that you select the correct ISBN. Several versions of Pearson's MyLab & Mastering products exist for each title, including customized versions for individual schools, and registrations are not transferable. In addition, you may need a CourseID, provided by your instructor, to register for and use Pearson's MyLab & Mastering products.

Packages

Access codes for Pearson's MyLab & Mastering products may not be included when purchasing or renting from companies other than Pearson; check with the seller before completing your purchase.

Used or rental books

If you rent or purchase a used book with an access code, the access code may have been redeemed previously and you may have to purchase a new access code.

Access codes

Access codes that are purchased from sellers other than Pearson carry a higher risk of being either the wrong ISBN or a previously redeemed code. Check with the seller prior to purchase.

T echnical Communication Today was written for introduction to technical communication or technical writing courses taught most often in English Departments.

Technical Communication Today remains the only text to fully centralize the computer in the technical workplace, presenting how writers use computers throughout their communication process.

Writers use their computers to help them think, research, compose, design, and edit. Not only is Technical Communication Today firmly rooted in core rhetorical principles, but the text also presents computers as thinking tools that powerfully influence how we develop, produce, design, and deliver technical documents and presentations.

Technical Communication Today speaks to today's students and how they expect to learn information. Instructional narrative is “chunked,” so that readable portions of text are combined with graphics. This presentation facilitate learning, and models the way today’s technical documents should be designed. Additionally, the chunked presentation integrates an awareness of how documents are read—often “raided” by readers seeking the information they need. By mirroring these processes in its content and structure, Technical Communication Today offers readers a higher level of accessibility.

✦ Table of Contents

Cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
Acknowledgments
Contents
Preface
Part 1: Elements of Technical Communication
CHAPTER 1 Communicating in the Technical Workplace
developing a Workplace Writing Process
Genres and the Technical Writing Process
What is Technical Communication?
how important is Technical Communication?
What You need to Know
Exercises and Projects
CHAPTER 2 Communicating in a Reader-Focused Way
Creating a Reader Profile
Using Profiles to Your Advantage
Global and Transcultural Communication
What You need to Know
Exercises and Projects
CHAPTER 3 Working in Teams
The Stages of Teaming
Forming: Strategic Planning
Storming: Managing Conflict
norming: determining Team Roles
Performing: improving Quality
The Keys to Teaming
What You need to Know
Exercises and Projects
CHAPTER 4 Managing Ethical Challenges
What Are Ethics?
Where do Ethics Come From?
Resolving Ethical dilemmas
Ethics in the Technical Workplace
Copyright Law in Technical Communication
What You need to Know
Exercises and Projects
Part 2: Genres of Technical Communication
CHAPTER 5 Letters, Memos, and E-Mail chapter
Features of Letters, Memos, and E-Mails
Step 1: Make a Plan and do Research
Step 2: decide What Kind of Letter, Memo, or E-Mail is needed
Step 3: organize and draft Your Message
Step 4: Choose the Style, design, and Medium
Using E-Mail for Transcultural Communication
What You need to Know
Exercises and Projects
CHAPTER 6 Technical Descriptions and Specifications
Step 1: Make a Plan and do Research
Step 2: Partition Your Subject
Step 3: organize and draft Your Technical
Step 4: Choose the Style, design, and Medium
What You need to Know
Exercises and Projects
CHAPTER 7 Instructions and Documentation
Types of Technical documentation
Step 1: Make a Plan and do Research
Step 2: organize and draft Your documentation
Step 3: Choose the Style, design, and Medium
Working with Transcultural documentation
What You need to Know
Exercises and Projects
CHAPTER 8 Proposals
Types of Proposals
Step 1: Make a Plan and do Research
Step 2: organize and draft Your Proposal
Step 3: Choose the Style, design, and Medium
What You need to Know
Exercises and Projects
CHAPTER 9 Activity Reports
Types of Activity Reports
Step 1: Make a Plan and do Research
Step 2: organize and draft Your Activity Report
Step 3: Choose the Style, design, and Medium
What You need to Know
Exercises and Projects
CHAPTER 10 Analytical Reports
Types of Analytical Reports
Step 1: Make a Plan and do Research
Step 2: organize and draft Your Report
Step 3: draft the Front Matter and Back Matter
Step 4: Choose the Style, design, and Medium
What You need to Know
Exercises and Projects
CHAPTER 11 Starting Your Career
Setting Goals, Making a Plan
Preparing a Résumé
Writing Effective Application Letters
Creating a Professional Portfolio
interviewing Strategies
What You need to Know
Exercises and Projects
Part 3: Planning and Doing Research
CHAPTER 12 Strategic Planning, Being Creative
Using Strategic Planning
Generating new ideas
What You need to Know
Exercises and Projects
CHAPTER 13 Persuading Others
Persuading with Reasoning
Persuading with Values
Persuasion in high-Context Cultures
What You need to Know
Exercises and Projects
CHAPTER 14 Researching in Technical Workplaces
Beginning Your Research
Step 1: define Your Research Subject
Step 2: Formulate a Research Question or hypothesis
Step 3: develop a Research Methodology
Step 4: Collect Evidence Through Sources
Step 5: Triangulate Your Sources
Step 6: Take Careful notes
Step 7: Appraise Your Evidence
Step 8: Revise, Accept, or Abandon Your hypothesis
What You need to Know
Exercises and Projects
Part 4: Drafting, Designing, and Revising
CHAPTER 15 Organizing and Drafting
Basic organization for Any document
Using Genres for outlining
organizing and drafting the introduction
organizing and drafting the Body
organizing and drafting the Conclusion
organizing Transcultural documents
What You need to Know
Exercises and Projects
CHAPTER 16 Using Plain and Persuasive Style
What is Style?
Writing Plain Sentences
Writing Plain Paragraphs
When is it Appropriate to Use Passive Voice?
Persuasive Style
Balancing Plain and Persuasive Style
What You need to Know
Exercises and Projects
CHAPTER 17 Designing Documents and Interfaces
Five Principles of design
design Principle 1: Balance
design Principle 2: Alignment
design Principle 3: Grouping
design Principle 4: Consistency
design Principle 5: Contrast
Transcultural design
What You need to Know
Exercises and Projects
CHAPTER 18 Creating and Using Graphics
Guidelines for Using Graphics
displaying data with Graphs, Tables, and Charts
Using Pictures and drawings
Using Transcultural Symbols
What You need to Know
Exercises and Projects
CHAPTER 19 Revising and Editing for Usability
Levels of Edit
Level 1 Editing: Revising
Level 2 Editing: Substantive Editing
Level 3 Editing: Copyediting
Level 4 Editing: Proofreading
Using Copyediting Symbols
Lost in Translation: Transcultural Editing
document Cycling and Usability Testing
What You need to Know
Exercises and Projects
Part 5: Connecting with Clients
CHAPTER 20 Preparing and Giving Presentations chapter
Planning and Researching Your Presentation
Choosing the Right Presentation Technology
organizing the Content of Your Presentation
Choosing Your Presentation Style
Creating Visuals
delivering the Presentation
Rehearsing
Working Across Cultures with Translators
What You need to Know
Exercises and Projects
CHAPTER 21 Writing for the Web
Writing for Websites
Using Social networking in the Workplace
Creating Blogs and Microblogs
Making internet Videos and Podcasts
Writing Articles for Wikis
What You need to Know
Exercises and Projects
Appendix A: Grammar and Punctuation Guide
The Top Ten Grammar Mistakes
Comma Splice
Run-On Sentence
Fragment
Dangling Modifier
Subject-Verb Disagreement
Pronoun-Antecedent Disagreement
Faulty Parallelism
Pronoun Case Error (I and Me, We and Us)
Shifted Tense
Vague Pronoun
Punctuation Refresher
Period, Exclamation Point, Question Mark
Commas
Semicolon and Colon
Apostrophe
Quotation Marks
Dashes and Hyphens
Parentheses and Brackets
Ellipses
Appendix B: English as a Second Language Guide
Using Articles Properly
Putting Adjectives and Adverbs in the Correct order
Using Verb Tenses Appropriately
Appendix C: Documentation Guide
APA documentation Style
APA In-Text Citations
The References List for APA Style
Creating the APA References List
CSE documentation Style (Citation-Sequence)
The References List for CSE Citation-Sequence Style
Creating the CSE References List (Citation-Sequence Style)
MLA documentation Style
MLA In-Text Citations
The Works Cited List for MLA Style
Creating the MLA Works Cited List
References
Credits
Index
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
Y
Z
Sample Documents